Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domainBedford sees more crime per resident than 61% of Canadian towns
Each of the two towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident. Violence accounts for an index of 96 and other offences for 64.2, against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8. On crime the police covering Bedford reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C+ for safety: #369 of 503 in Quebec. For every 1,000 residents, 12.4 violent incidents and 12.4 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical town its size, the figures are 12.9 and 31.2.
Statistics Canada, police-reported crime, 2023–2025 means. The index weighs each crime by its seriousness; rates are incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: one figure for all of the Brome-Missisquoi MRC.
What stands out about safety in Bedford
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Bedford records 6.7 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Bedford stands 27th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Heavier than Quebec’s middle
Within Quebec, the median town comes to 56.1 on the index, against 72.8 in Bedford. Towns its size ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Bedford: C+ for safety, and why
The grade weighs the Crime Severity Index and its violent half, averaged over 2023–2025, against every Canadian town and city neighbourhood of 1,000 people or more.
Its place: #369 of 503 in Quebec and #1,539 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What police record in Bedford, by type
Against the typical town its size, Bedford runs highest on Cannabis Act offences (5 per 1,000 against 0.03) and drug offences (6.7 per 1,000 against 0.7). Mischief and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 58.3 | 1 | 41% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 16 | 0.3 | 88% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Robbery | 4.3 | 0.08 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 5 | 0.09 | 94% |
| Other violent violations | 13 | 0.2 | 44% |
| Breaking and entering | 104.7 | 1.8 | 28% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5 | 0.09 | 86% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 43.7 | 0.8 | 23% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 22.7 | 0.4 | 16% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 144.3 | 2.5 | 37% |
| Mischief | 118.7 | 2.1 | 26% |
| Weapons violations | 9.3 | 0.2 | 75% |
| Administration of justice violations | 126 | 2.2 | 97% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 30.7 | 0.5 | 50% |
| Drug violations | 385.7 | 6.7 | 18% |
| Impaired driving | 123.7 | 2.2 | 97% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 85 | 1.5 | 14% |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment, incidents a year its own. Cleared: incidents solved by a charge or otherwise, as a share of those reported.
Incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 means, against the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Bedford comes 27th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perry Ontario | 2,866 | 32.8 | 34.7 | A |
| 2 | Saint-Elzéar Quebec | 2,842 | 37.7 | 68.7 | A |
| 3 | Rivière-Beaudette Quebec | 2,806 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Laurier-Station Quebec | 2,838 | 42.6 | 72.9 | A− |
| 7 | Yamachiche Quebec | 2,801 | 44.3 | 60.8 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 24 | Atikokan Ontario | 2,796 | 68.9 | 109.7 | B− |
| 25 | Cultus Lake British Columbia | 2,773 | 71.6 | 60.2 | C+ |
| 26 | Forestville Quebec | 2,835 | 72.5 | 127.6 | C+ |
| 27 | Bedford Quebec | 2,845 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| 28 | Ferme-Neuve Quebec | 2,816 | 73.1 | 131 | C+ |
| 29 | Saint-Prime Quebec | 2,808 | 73.3 | 114.4 | C+ |
| 30 | Addington Highlands Ontario | 2,827 | 84.5 | 105.8 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Athabasca Alberta | 2,887 | 165 | 138.6 | D |
The 40 Canadian towns of 2,500+ people closest in population; city neighbourhoods, city totals and reserves are left out. Towns on one police service or detachment share its index.
The Canadian towns closest to Bedford in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
From 2023 to 2025, Bedford’s index held steady
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 86.7 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 64.4 in 2023. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Bedford | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 67.4 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 86.7 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 64.4 | 74.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Bedford, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
About 710 violent incidents a year across the police area of 58,000 residents that includes Bedford, 2023–2025
Violent incidents per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Property crimes per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Statistics Canada counts actual incidents; those police record as unfounded are listed apart and kept out of its crime rates and severity index. Each incident is filed under its most serious violation, which the survey sets partly by the maximum penalty.
And about 710 property crimes, plus 850 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Bedford
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford | 2,845 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| Saint-Armand | 1,241 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| Sainte-Sabine | 1,123 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| Venise-en-Québec | 2,252 | 62.8 | 83.3 | B− |
| Dunham | 3,632 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| Saint-Alexandre | 2,685 | 62.8 | 83.3 | B− |
| Frelighsburg | 1,168 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
The places around Bedford all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Venise-en-Québec (14.5 km away), scores 62.8 against 72.8. Where neighbours share its police, they share the figure too: 4 aren’t counted above.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Shared across the MRC. The Sûreté du Québec’s figures are for its MRC as a whole, not for Bedford alone.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
- Cleared, not convicted. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- What the index measures. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Bedford
Is Bedford safe?
With 12.4 violent incidents and 12.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Bedford comes to 72.8 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people have a median of 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Bedford?
Drug offences is the most common, at 6.7 per 1,000 residents a year, then assault (6) and Cannabis Act offences (5).
Is crime going up in Bedford?
Barely: 64.4 in 2023, 67.4 in 2025.
How much of Bedford’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 38% of crime (57% of violent crime, 27% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Bedford together with its neighbours or the countryside around it.
Source: Statistics Canada, police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025 (Statistics Canada Open Licence); TownRatings calculation.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Crime severity index and weighted clearance rates, police services (tables 35-10-0186 to 0190, 0061, 0063, 0064), 2023–2025 · Statistics Canada, Incident-based crime statistics by detailed violations, police services (35-10-0178 to 0185) · Safety Grade: TownRatings calculation. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).